4th of July

Saturday Rush left to go to Quadra Island, British Columbia for a week of kayaking with the Boy Scouts. It didn't seem right to celebrate without him or Nathan but the other 4 still wanted to celebrate the 4th.

We went over to friends' after church to swim and BBQ. It wasn't very warm but they had heated the pool and the kids didn't seem to mind. It was nice to sit and visit. Ryan called at 1 to say he was awake so we headed home shortly later. We planned on going to the parade at 4 to catch candy but there was a family camp issue we had to deal with so we couldn't get out of the house in time.

The boys were asked to do the flag ceremony at the destruction derby. We'd never been to the derby- the closest we've been is 2 years ago we went to the fairgrounds afterwards to watch the fireworks. The kids weren't sure about going since it meant we had to delay our own fireworks. We all got pit passes and got to sit right up front for the derby and fireworks. We had a great time. It was fun to watch the cars fall apart and at the very end it was a no-holds-barred-last-car-running event. Towards the end of the evening Tovah thanked us for bringing her so I guess we are forgiven for delaying our own celebration. The boys want to do flags again during the fair and take grandma and grandpa and next time Rush will get a chance to participate.

It took about 30 minutes to clear the cars and get the fireworks set up. A lot of people went home and some moved out to the grass north of the grand stand to watch the show. I thought the best part was listening to the little boys in the next group over. One of them described a whistling firework as "the sound a bird makes after its blowed up." Every firework was his "favorite" one. They were good but by then I was cold and tired of sitting on the bleachers. It's pretty sad when you have to wear wool socks and hoodies aren't warm enough for an evening outside in July.

We didn't get home until after 11. The neighbors were still shooting off stuff. Tonight we'll do our fireworks but I don't think it'll bother anyone because I'm pretty sure they'll still be doing them too.